Sorry No Fix
by Livi-Love
Summary: "I'm... no... monster..." It was rediscovering its voice, glaring at her. "You're not." Tears dripped off her cheeks. "I am." Turtle rescues Girl gone wrong.


Natalie's heart thudded as she backed away from the approaching men, who were leering at her with beady eyes. She would have screamed if her throat wasn't so tightly shut, only allowing ragged breaths to leave her bright red lips. All the self-defence her aunt had taught her for three years left her mind the moment she met her attackers' eyes. They were so dark and blank, like there wasn't a real life inside of them. How had this happened? It seemed like a second ago that she had left her friend's house after a party, listening to music on her iPod as she hummed to its beat. Now, she was in an alleyway with at least six men walking towards her.

Her body convulsed and the back of her bumped into a wall. Natalie's legs buckled underneath her so she was sitting on her bottom on the dirty floor, tears leaking out of the corner of her wide eyes. This wasn't how she was supposed to die. She was supposed to get married to a sweet guy with floppy hair and a tinkly laugh. She was supposed to walk down the aisle in a flowing white dress and pearly high heels. She was supposed to clasp her newborn child to her chest, whispering loving words into his ear. The list went on and on like that moment, never-ending.

She was only fifteen... why did she have to die now?

That thought became stuck in her head, the rawness of it making her clench her eyes shut. No. She would not look at her death. She would die thinking about her family.

Mom. Natalie's friends always complained about how theirs fussed about them and never let them do anything. Hers didn't. Natalie's mom was nearly always at work, popping home after she went to bed and leaving before she woke up on most days. When they were together, often during school breaks, her mother showered her with gifts that she was indifferent to (make your own friendship bracelet kits, sparkly pink sweaters...). She wished her mom had gotten to know her more. She wish she had gotten to know her mother more.

Then there was Dad. Even though she was a teenager, he treated her like a child. He picked her up under the armpits and swung her around like a child. He was very strong and it made her whole body ache. She had always wanted him to treat her like an adult but now she didn't care. All she wanted was to be in his arms and for him to rock her and tell her that it had just been a dream.

Dreams... Natalie always got told off for daydreaming in class and at home. She did it all the time. She loved writing stories and would spend hours doodling her characters, giving them each a life story. It meant her grades weren't fantastic as she prioritised it over school work. She couldn't help it. She simply didn't see how knowing how to differentiate would matter when she became an author. She definitely wasn't going to have a career involving maths. Too many wrong answers.

Though now that she was about to be raped and murdered, Natalie didn't see how being imaginative was going to help her. She could control the fate of the people she created... not her own.

Natalie waited. Then she waited a bit more. When no one grabbed her, threw her on the ground and ripped off her clothes, she allowed herself to have a tiny peek at the reason why this didn't happen.

The men were on the ground with their clothes even more ripped than usual. Natalie's body relaxed a fraction as she approached them. Then, her heart stopped.

They weren't moving.

They were dead.

Her hand shot to her mouth and she looked around. Whoever had done it had done it so quickly and brutally... how did she know they were her friend? What if the person came back for her?

Natalie's voice came out as a squeak. "Who's there?" Mentally, she added, 'will you kill me?'

She tucked her straggly brown hair behind her ear, her pupils going back and forth like a metronome. No movement in front of her. It looked like she was safe. Natalie exhaled loudly, twisting her head to one side. Her body followed her, shaking as she searched the area behind her.

A thump made her jump and spin around.

One of the men on the ground was yelling. She didn't hear him though. She didn't see the gun in his hand either. She didn't see even him, his face scrunched up in pain.

She only saw the turtle standing on his hand.

It was giant... the same size as a human. It was on its hind legs like a human, but it was green with two toes so it obviously wasn't one. Its dome shaped shell covered all of its back, green and rough. Like its skin, she noted in her stunned state. What wasn't green were the yellow plates on its muscular chest. It looked like it could tear her apart, limb by limb, without breaking a sweat. Under the lamp post's distant rays, she could see hints of scars all over its body. It must have gotten them from a fight. Lots of fights. It must have liked fighting. It must have been good at fighting.

She yelped. She hated how weak she sounded. How powerless. She wanted to run away but couldn't move her legs.

The turtle, who had been staring down at its prey, looked up. She wondered whether it planned on eating her. It was wearing a purple rag around its eyes. Had the piece of material got stuck to its face while it had been eating someone? Had the turtle ripped it off one of its victims and was now wearing it as some sort of trophy, displaying it for all to see and fear?

Natalie didn't know. She didn't want to know. All she wanted to do was wake up and laugh about the dream with her friends.

"You okay?" it asked.

The scream just came out of her mouth. No thought went into it. No thought could go into it. Natalie just went on autopilot and screamed and screamed.

Lights went on in buildings and people poked their heads out of windows, wondering what all the fuss was about. The monster tried to run away but a car stopped abruptly on the pavement, blocking its path. Two policemen burst out of the vehicle, holding guns out in front of them.

"Stay where you are!" one demanded, his gun holding hands trembling faintly. The monster wasn't deterred, running towards them with a bo staff. No... a stick. The monster must have found a nice branch from a tree and decided it would be a good weapon. Maybe it was smart...?

Gunfire broke Natalie's thoughts and the turtle's speed decreased dramatically. It clutched its bleeding arm, its footing notably sloppier. Natalie's screams ceased and she watched the policemen continue shooting.

Did... Did the monster really deserve to die? Her fear was beginning to diminish and she could think a lot more clearly than before. Was all this shooting necessary? It... had saved her life. She didn't know for a fact that it had wanted to hurt her. Maybe... as strange as it sounded... it had wanted to help her?

Natalie's stomach churned. She had screamed. She had brought everyone's attention to it. Why couldn't she have kept her mouth shut? No. She clenched her fists, trying to calm herself down. She had done the right thing. The turtle might have wanted to take her away and eat her. It was a good thing she hadn't kept silent. As if it would want to be her friend. As if it knew to save her because it was a humane thing to do.

"It's getting away!" someone yelled.

The monster disappeared down a manhole, a trail of blood following it. The policemen didn't look eager to follow it into the sewers, choosing to get out a cell phone and call for backup.

Natalie was even less eager and ran home before anyone realised and could ask her questions. She just wanted to forget about it. It was all too crazy... but all too real.

TMNTNMT

"_Rumours are flying like crazy as reports come in that witnesses claim they saw local authorities find five strange creatures in New York sewers. It is thought that they are under the possession of world famous Agent John Bishop in Area 51..."_

"_Yeah, I saw them. There were dozens of guys, all in suits, and they had these big sacks. I bet my teeth that those aliens were in there."_

"_Any comments, Mister Bishop?"_

"_No comment."_

"_The people need to know, Mister Bishop."_

"_No comment."_

"I know," whispered Natalie.

TMNTNMT

Natalie checked her map, unsure whether it was right.

The carnival was near deserted. There weren't families walking along, eating candy floss and holding cheap teddies that had cost a lot of money. She proceeded slowly, eyeing the large signs that would have been flashing decades ago. There was barely anyone manning any of the rides... here and there, men with tattoos and women with piercings stood beside rides that looked as though they were about to fall apart. She ignored them, heading towards the attraction that was at the back.

An old poster caught Natalie's eye. It was nailed to a leafless tree, smudged and ripped. Natalie tore it off and read the faded title.

**The Incredible Large and Talking Turtle**

Her breathing picked up. This was the correct place after all. She wondered whether this was the turtle she had seen all those years ago. It had to be. The one at the zoo had much darker skin than the turtle who had saved her. She had pleaded with businesswoman Oroku Karai to let her see the one she had obtained years ago, but the woman had told her that the turtle died long ago. The Japanese woman had been surprisingly helpful though. She told Natalie that the turtle she had once owned had worn a blue mask and had lived a life of solitude, for she had set it free but it had never been able to see its family ever again. Family...

"It has a family, ma'am?"

"Yes. He had three brothers and a father. After Agent Bishop examined them, by that I mean tortured, he sold them to various buyers. I wished to buy them all, but he only let me buy Leonardo."

"That's the one you set free, right? Why? Didn't it cost a lot of money?"

"He was not an animal. I bought him so that he would not be bought by a buyer that would treat him like a monster."

"What about the others? Where did they go?"

"Raphael went to a zoo, I believe. I saw him once... I could not buy him. He was not for sale, no matter how much money I offered his owners. Michelangelo, as far as I am aware, stayed with Bishop until his death... as did his master."

"What about the last turtle? What happened to the last one?"

"He was passed around... if my memory serves me right, the last that was heard of him was from a travelling circus."

Natalie stopped at the cage, tears in her eyes. The bars were brown and she bet a good kick would break them, but the creature inside had chosen not to. It was a lot smaller than she remembered it to be, with grey leathered skin. It was nothing like the olive skin she remembered. Its shell was cracked and chipped, battered and broken. She wondered whether it was alive and if she should ask for its attention.

There was no one nearby. No one to guard it or feed it... and no one to protect her.

"Excuse me?"

The turtle did nothing. She tried again, using the name Karai had given her.

"Donatello?"

The turtle shifted. It turned around. She widened her eyes but made no noise. The surprised expression on its face stretched its thin skin so much that it might have snapped should it have been any more shocked.

The turtle was naked... no mask, no belt, not even its stick... No part of it showed any life, not even its eyes. They were a milk brown colour... blank. Dead.

Natalie smiled sadly, kneeling down. Her pale hand took hold of one of the bars. "You don't remember me, do you?"

The turtle shook its head, raising a hand. It pointed at her and croaked, "Girl."

She nodded. "Yes, I'm a girl."

It shook its head, narrowing its eyes. "You..." Its voice was never even, as broken as its body and spirit. "... Screamed."

Her grip on the bar tightened and she ducked her head, ashamed.

"Yes... that was me. I screamed. I... I did this to you. To your family."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"You... broke... us..."

"Yes, I did."

"You... broke... us..."

"I know. I screamed. I'm sorry."

"Sorry... no... fix..."

"It doesn't. I can't take back what I did. I'm sorry, I was so scared! I thought you were going to eat me."

"I'm... no... monster..."

It was rediscovering its voice, glaring at her.

"You're not."

Tears dripped off her cheeks.

"I am."

She reached into her carrier bag and pulled out a book. Natalie held it out, gazing at the turtle. It didn't react.

"I never forgot about you. I wrote a book about you ages ago. It's about a girl who makes friends with a turtle after it saved her life. Everyone bought it. I became very famous. Do you want me to read some of it to you?"

The turtle snorted before coughing. Each cough made her wince... it was an awful, sad sound.

"You must hate me."

She laughed softly but she didn't know why. There was nothing funny about any of this.

"I hate myself, you know. I wish I hadn't screamed. Then, maybe everything would be all right."

The turtle would have cried if it wasn't so dry and weak.

"I didn't know you had a family."

The turtle's eyes began to leak what little water it had left. Natalie cried as well, reaching through the bars to touch it reassuringly. It recoiled, spreading its body against the back of the cage. It collapsed, sobs exploding from its body.

"I'm sorry. Look..."

Natalie took hold of two adjacent bars and used all her strength to bend them. She gritted her teeth, digging her heels into the wet ground and nearly falling onto her back a few times. She finally stopped, catching sight of the cage's door.

The lock was broken.

She opened the door and said, "It's not shut! You can escape."

The turtle continued bawling, its weathered arms wrapped around its knees. It looked so pathetic, like it was trying to become so small it would disappear from existence. Natalie stared at it.

"I'm serious, you can just walk out! Look... please."

"Where... to...?"

"Sorry?"

"Where... would... I... go? No... one... left..."

"You could..." She faltered out. A large lump was in her throat and her eyes weren't showing signs of clearing up. "You could come with me. I would take care of you."

"No. Leave... me... alone..."

"But..."

It raised its head off its knees and stared at her, its eyes burning with emotion.

"No. Good... bye..."

Natalie nodded.

"I understand... I'm sorry."

"Sorry... no... fix..."

"I know."

And she walked away.


End file.
